BATTERSEA, a parish partly in the eastern, but
chiefly in the western, division of the hundred of BRIXTON,
county of SURREY, 4 miles (S.) from London, containing,
with the hamlet of Penge, 4992 inhabitants.
This place, in Domesday-book called Patricesey, or Peters-
ey, was so named from having anciently belonged to
the abbey of St. Peter, at Westminster: it was formerly
of much greater extent than at present. The family of
St. John had a venerable mansion here, of which there
are still some remains: it was the favourite resort of Pope,
who, when visiting his friend Lord Bolingbroke, usually
selected as his study, in which he is said to have composed
some of his celebrated works, a parlour wainscoted
with cedar, overlooking the Thames. The village
is pleasantly situated on the southern bank of the river,
over which there is a wooden bridge, connecting it with
Chelsea: the houses are irregularly built, and in detached
situations; the inhabitants are supplied with
water from springs. The neighbourhood has long been
celebrated for the production of vegetables for the London
market, especially asparagus, which was first cultivated
here; but the quantity of land appropriated to
that purpose has, within the last twenty years, been
considerably diminished. On part of the site of Bolingbroke
house a horizontal air-mill was erected, in 1790,
of a conical form, one hundred and forty feet in height,
and having a mean diameter of fifty feet: it was originally
applied to the bruising of linseed for oil, and
subsequently to the grinding of malt for distilleries,
which were at that time in extensive operation here.
A silk-manufactory has recently been established, but
the principal business is confined to the market-gardeners,
of whom there is still a considerable number
in the neighbourhood. A fair was formerly held at
Easter, but it has lately been suppressed. The county
magistrates hold a meeting at Wandsworth, an adjoining
parish, where also a court of requests, for the recovery
of debts under £,5, is held, under an act obtained
in the 31st of George II., the powers of which were extended
to the present sum by an act in the 46th of
George III.; its jurisdiction includes this parish. The
lord of the manor also holds a court leet at Wandsworth,
at which a headborough and constables for
Battersea are appointed.
The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of
Surrey, and diocese of Winchester, rated in the king's
books at £13. 15. 2., and in the patronage of Earl
Spencer. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, was
handsomely rebuilt of brick in 1777; it has a tower
surmounted by a small spire, and, standing on the
margin of the river, forms an interesting object from
the water: the window over the altar is decorated with
portraits of Henry VII., his grandmother Margaret
Beauchamp, and Queen Elizabeth, in stained glass j
the interior contains some interesting sepulchral monuments,
among which are, one by Roubilliac, to the
memory of Viscount Bolingbroke and his lady, and one
to the memory of Edward Winter, an officer in the service
of the East India Company, on which is recorded
an account of his having, singly and unarmed, killed a
tiger, and, on foot, defeated forty Moors on horseback.
Collins, author of the Peerage and Baronetage of England;
his grandson David Collins, Lieutenant-Governor
of New South Wales, and author of a History of the
English Settlement there; and William Curtis, a distinguished
botanical writer, were buried here. A chapel
of ease, in Battersea Fields, was erected in 1828, at the
expense of £2969. 2. 10., defrayed partly by a rate, and
partly by grant from the parliamentary commissioners;
it is a neat building in the later style of English architecture,
and contains five hundred and ninety-six sittings,
of which three hundred and eighty-four are free.
There are places of worship for Baptists andWesleyan
Methodists. A school, for the instruction of twenty
boys, was founded and endowed by Sir Walter St. John,
in 1700. A National school for ninety boys and sixty
girls, and an infant school, are supported by subscription.
Battersea Rise, a part of the common between
Clapham and Wandsworth, is ornamented with several
handsome villas, one of which was the residence of that
eminent citizen, Sir John Barnard, who died in 1764.